Apple Strikes Deal to Buy the Music Start-Up Lala — SAN FRANCISCO — In the most recent sign that Apple is looking at alternative ways for people to store and play their digital music, the company has agreed to buy Lala, a four-year-old start-up based in Palo Alto, Calif., a person with knowledge of the deal said Friday.

Confirmed: Apple Buys Music Service Lala, at a Fire Sale Price — Apple has purchased online music service Lala, I've confirmed with a source familiar with the transaction. Both Bloomberg and CNET reported the chats earlier today. If you'd like other confirmation, New York Times also reports that the deal has closed.

The rise and fall of MySpace — In summer 2005, having spent the best part of four decades ­building a newspaper, film and television empire, Rupert Murdoch decided that the time had come to get serious about the internet. As founder and chairman of News Corporation …

Barnes & Noble's Nook gets a brief and early hands-on — Thanks to a very generous anonymous tipster, we've gotten a number of hands-on pics of Barnes & Noble's soon to be released (for some) Nook e-reader. The impressions we've been given, however, weave a tale of a laggy Android interface …

Beware Social Media Snake Oil — Hordes of marketing “experts” are promoting the value of wikis, social networks, and blogs. All the hype may obscure the real potential of these online tools — For business, the rising popularity of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media Web sites presents a tantalizing opportunity.

Google Acquires AppJet — We are happy to announce that AppJet Inc. has been acquired by Google. The EtherPad team will continue its work on realtime collaboration by joining the Google Wave team. — For Current Users and Customers: — What will happen to my account? Will I still be able to use EtherPad?

CrunchPad Litigation Imminent — It has been a busy week for our former partners on the CrunchPad. The company has deleted their corporate blog, taken the time to hire a PR firm and schedule an event Monday morning to “give their side of the story.” — They still have not returned our calls or emails.

Google Experience Phone To T-Mobile? — Let me just preface this post with a total rumor disclaimer, to be read only with serious grains of salt. — That being said, information has been passed along to me in a very James Bond type way from a trusty ninja who has yet to lead me astray.

Study: MySQL use to drop under Oracle ownership — Survey finds that Oracle ownership would blunt demand for Sun's open source database — IDG News Service - Usage of the open-source MySQL database is set to decline if Oracle succeeds in buying the software's owner, Sun Microsystems …

Personalized Search for everyone — Today we're helping people get better search results by extending Personalized Search to signed-out users worldwide, and in more than forty languages. Now when you search using Google, we will be able to better provide you with the most relevant results possible.